Why change signs before they need it?

Published
12:00 am EST, Saturday, November 27, 2010

It amazes me that the state and local governments would just follow the unfunded mandate rules rather than approach the Federal Highway Administration and renegotiate a better deal on when street signs must go from ALL CAPS to Upper and Lower Case, especially in this period of fiscal problems. I specifically played with the capitalization in the last sentence to suggest that the brain sees what it is used to seeing. Are we used to seeing street signs in ALL CAPS? I think so.

A better deal would be that street signs conform when they need to be replaced because they are illegible or missing, rather than a wholesale replacement. If a better deal can't be reached, I would like to know if the FHA manual requires EXIT, STOP, ONE WAY, etc., be changed as well..

Whether the new regulation stands or can be renegotiated, please change those blue-and-white street signs with the black lettering along Central Avenue in Albany. They are definitely unreadable.